Business CENTS

Business of the Month | Upcoming Courses and Events

BUSINESS CENTS
(Community Enterprise Networking and Training Services)

Owning a business can be incredibly rewarding, but entrepreneurs face many challenges! Whether you are at the starting stages or have been in business for years, Business CENTS can help. Business CENTS is a comprehensive small business development program offering classes and seminars, consultation and coaching, networking events, and many other resources for business owners and self-employed persons at all stages and in all professions.

Business CENTS’s programs will help you:

Assess your business’s financial feasibility
Develop effective marketing strategies
Write a business plan
Learn management skills
Understand business taxes
Expand your business with confidence
Access important business resources

Business CENTS’s services include:

Training Courses
Business CENTS offers two entrepreneurial training courses, each presented several times per year.

“Are You Ready for Business?” is an introductory course designed for someone who is exploring a business idea. Participants gain the knowledge and tools to address key questions: Is my business idea viable? What skills will I need? What resources are available? What are the next steps to starting my own business?

“Getting Down to Business” is a comprehensive business planning course, designed for someone at the start-up stage or newly in business. The course walks through the “nuts and bolts” of planning, starting and running a healthy business venture, from finance to marketing, and from taxes to legal issues. Each participant prepares a business plan during the nine weeks of class.

Workshops and Seminars
Throughout the year, Business CENTS presents a variety of workshops and seminars, designed to increase knowledge in specific aspects of business management. Most workshops and seminars are designed for people who are already in business. Topics include effective marketing strategies, business plan writing, bookkeeping and financial organization, business plan writing, insurance options, and much more.

One-to-One Business Consultation
Business CENTS’s staff can meet with you individually, whether to help develop a marketing strategy, set goals, create financial statements, or simply give feedback on a business idea. One-to-one consultation focuses directly on your specific needs and concerns. If you have questions we can’t address, we’ll work with you to search out the answers.

Intensive Business Coaching
Many small businesses feel a need for someone to turn to for regular, on-going assistance, especially during challenging times. CENTS’s coaching program pairs the business owner with his or her own personal mentor who acts as a resource, sounding board and advisor. In a series of one-to-one consultations over several months, the coach and client work together to problem solve, strategize, set action steps, and keep the client accountable to his or her goals.

Loan Preparation Assistance
Obtaining business financing can be daunting for a business owner. Whether you're just starting out, expanding a business, or trying to work through financial difficulties, Business CENTS is available to help you through the business loan application process. We'll explain how it works and what information a loan officer needs, and we can review your completed application and business plan to confirm that your documents are in order and ready to submit.

Business Resource Center
Do you need computer access to get your business plan together? Are you looking for books to help in researching your business idea? Business CENTS has resources to help you. Our computer workstation gives CENTS clients Internet access as well as word processing, spreadsheets, design software, and more. An expanding library of books, journals and other reference materials may also be checked out for your use. The resources we have are here for you.

For More Information Contact:

607-216-3423
Toll free: 877-273-AFCU Ext. 728
Email: CENTS@alternatives.org
Or stop in at the Business Resource Center:
125 N. Fulton Street, Ithaca, NY

This program is funded by Empire State Development Corporation and the US Small Business Administration.

Online Services

BillPay@home »

Loan Rates

Deposit Rates

Donate »

Help us help our community through the Alternatives Venture Fund

Joe Nolan, Home Green Home

My family's credit union has been Alternatives since '96; We liked the mission, and who could resist banking in a converted house? In 2005 I started thinking about a retail start-up called "Home Green Home" that would sell healthy and eco-conscious home furnishings and renovation supplies. The Business CENTS class helped me to understand and develop the elements of a business plan, and set me on the path to taking the big leap.

At every stage, I've felt well supported by Alternatives' friendly staff. From one-on-one consultation to business banking and credit needs, I've received quick, helpful service at Alternatives. We always look to partner with organizations that share our values, and Alternatives fits the bill.

Alternatives
Financial
Education »

Discover how you can gain control of your finances...

Alternatives Federal Credit Union ("Alternatives") provides a hyperlink to Google Translate� for convenience only and without any responsibility for the accuracy of translations. Alternatives has no control over this unrelated, free and entirely computerized translation program. Computerized translations are only an attempted approximation of the website�s original content and thus Alternatives makes no representations or warranties of any kind with respect to the accuracy, reliability or completeness of any translations. Persons using translated information do so at their own risk.